


Anyone Special?

by mooniemurphy



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Boys In Love, Caitlin Called This, Fluff, Ft. Mentions of Eobard Thawne Being a Manipulative Dick, Hartley Deserves The World, Idiots in Love, M/M, Past Harrison Wells/Hartley Rathaway, Pining, Season 2 Era, fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 13:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13389015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooniemurphy/pseuds/mooniemurphy





	Anyone Special?

“Dinner,” Caitlin grins. “Anyone special?”

 

“Very,” Hartley replies, and there’s that rare, blinding smile on his face, and that’s great. Cisco’s glad that Hartley is finally happy, as glad as he is that they got over their past and all the ugly things that had happened with it. He’s glad that they’re finally friends and that they can get along and that Hartley can actually come to help them. He’s glad Hartley seems to just be moving on in general.

 

So he can’t explain the irrational flare of anger when it seems like Hartley’s going on a date. It’s not like he’s jealous; he’s not. Not over Hartley Rathaway and whoever he’s going to dinner with. They’re barely even friends, and it’s not like _that _.__ Cisco doesn’t have a crush on Hartley, and screw Caitlin for assuming that he does.

 

Except that he _does_ , and he’s not sure where it came from, because he used to hate Hartley Rathaway more than he hated sour green apple lollipops. He thinks it started last year, when Hartley had inadvertently saved his life in a desperate act of self-preservation. It had forced them to work together and see each other more clearly, and then everything else had happened. Evil Wells-- Thawne-- and now, the return of the time wraith. Hartley had been helping him work on that project for almost a year.

 

That year had been spent with long nights and way too much coffee. Brushes of hands that hadn’t really meant anything. There had been nights where Hartley had fallen asleep in Cisco’s apartment and woken up earlier than Cisco to cook them both breakfast. In the past year, they’d more or less lived together while they tried to figure out this time wraith thing. Nights where they both got so tired of work that they’d just stayed up late watching Star Wars and Harry Potter and Doctor Who and Game of Thrones, and had arguments over which Star Wars character was the hottest (Hartley still insisted it was Han, but Cisco had always had a soft spot for Luke).

 

Now that it’s over, and the time wraith is gone, they won’t have those nights anymore, and it kind of leaves a hole, but apparently, Hartley’s already got a date, so he’s not bitter. He’s definitely not bitter.

 

And then-- “My parents,” Hartley adds after a second of silence, and Cisco looks up to stare at him. Hartley is positively beaming, eyes bright blue and radiant, and there’s a smile on his face that’s so unmatched by anything Cisco’s ever seen, and his heart __aches.__  Cisco can’t help but smile.

 

He’s smiling because Hartley doesn’t have a date. He’s smiling because Hartley is making things okay with his parents. He’s smiling because Hartley seems so _happy_ and it’s fucking _beautiful,_ and he had never expected to think Hartley was anything beyond being a dick, but here they are. And Hartley’s still a dick, but he’s less of a dick than he used to be, and he’s _gorgeous _,__ and he has a dry, wiry, witty sense of humor that Cisco both loathes and adores.

 

“Wait, I’ll walk you out,” Cisco says before he can stop himself, pushing away from his desk. Caitlin gives him a look that he promptly ignores, because shut up, Caitlin. He sees a flash of confusion across Hartley’s face that quickly flattens out into blankness, before the older boy nods slightly.

 

“Sure,” he agrees, and Cisco falls into step with him as they walk out of the cortex.

 

“You’re making things work with your parents,” Cisco begins, by way of making conversation as they walk out of the cortex and towards the elevator. Hartley laughs, the sound bright and full and a little stunned beyond belief, and Cisco can’t blame him for that.

 

“Yeah, I guess I am. They called, and I was so surprised, but they wanted to try to make things okay. So we agreed to dinner tonight, and I don’t know how it’ll go, but it’s a start.”

 

“I’m happy for you,” Cisco says honestly as he pushes the button of the elevator to take them to the ground level. They step inside together, and Hartley exhales a small sigh.

 

“Thanks. I’m pretty… stunned, actually, but I’m hoping this will make things better.” He tilts his head a little, running his fingers through the tousled mess of brown curls that he hadn’t bothered to style. Cisco watches him from the corner of his eyes, leaning against the elevator wall. “Things have actually been… good for the past year. As good as they can be when you find out the man you were sleeping with was actually a homicidal maniac from the future.”

 

He sounds so blase, so unaffected, but Cisco can feel the tension still in his shoulders. He had almost forgotten that Hartley and Not-Wells had been together __kind of__ , because there were no real feelings on Not-Wells’ side of things, but there had been plenty on Hartley’s, which had only made the bitter sting of betrayal even sharper. For Cisco, too, because that just made Wells seem so much worse in his eyes.

 

“You deserve better,” Cisco tells him, and Hartley scoffs.

 

“That’s almost funny, coming from you, Cisco.”

 

“Well. Things have changed.”

 

Hartley stares at him, expression nothing more than a little curious, but he’s silent until the elevator doors open with a sharp ding. “Yeah,” he replies finally, stepping out of the elevator. “They really have.”

 

“Maybe you can find someone who’s actually good for you now,” Cisco prompts as they walk towards the doors of the building, ignoring the way the words make his heart ache, because he’s not a person that’s good for Hartley. Hartley needs someone who can help fix that brokenness, and Cisco’s not sure he ever could, because he’s pretty sure he’s a big part of Hartley’s brokenness.

 

“I’m not really looking to date,” Hartley replies flatly, eyes narrowing behind his glasses. “Most people can’t handle a relationship with me, because they look past a semi-pretty face and find out that I’m actually an asshole, and I don’t have much patience for anyone who can’t match me intellectually, and that’s a very, very slim amount of people.”

 

Cisco frowns, turning to face Hartley as they wait together for the Uber that was coming to pick him up. “You could still--”

 

“Cisco,” Hartley bites out, and Cisco backs off. “There’s only one person--” He frowns, brows furrowing slightly. “One person that I even have… any feelings for, and he’s not… He’s not interested.”

 

“How do you know?” Cisco presses, not sure why he’s trying to help Hartley with a relationship, because it makes him feel like there’s a monster burning a hole in his chest, but he likes seeing Hartley happy. Maybe Hartley will be happy. “You should talk to him, you know? Give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

Hartley glares at him, sharp and a little cold, and for a few seconds, it feels like old times. Cisco almost bets that Hartley is about to say something so _Hartley _-__ ish that Cisco will instantly be over whatever stupid crush he has on him. They had hated each other for a reason, after all, and--

 

But Hartley doesn’t say anything. There’s such a long moment of silence that Cisco fidgets, starts to say something just so there’s noise, but he doesn’t get a chance. Because Hartley is _kissing him_ , and what the fuck?

 

Not that Cisco is complaining, because, no, no, he’s really not. This is exactly what Cisco had wanted to do for possibly months now, and he can’t even make himself respond to it because he’s so shocked that Hartley actually wants this at all. Soon, too soon, before Cisco can shake himself out of his shock, Hartley is pushing back, and Cisco wants to chase his lips, because they’re about as soft as he’d thought they’d be, but Hartley just looks cold _ _.__

 

“That,” Hartley answers flatly, turning to the Uber that has conveniently pulled up with the absolute worse time, and reaching for the door handle. “That is the worst thing that could happen.”

 

Cisco frowns, confused and a little petulant. Automatically, he reaches out and wraps his fingers around Hartley’s wrist. “Wait, stay,” he says, and Hartley just stares. “No, I mean-- not-- fuck. Stay __here__. In Central City, with us, with Team Flash, with... I mean, with me. Stay.”

 

“Cisco--”

 

“I know you have an important dinner with your parents tonight, and okay, I’ve waited like six months or something, I can wait another night, so go to that and make things right, and then tomorrow, you can tell me all about how it went when you let _me_ take you to dinner.”

 

The Uber driver clears her throat impatiently, but Cisco ignores her, and Hartley looks stunned to the point of silence yet again. It’s so rare that Cisco is almost smug, but he’s a little too anxious to be smug, because maybe that wasn’t actually what Hartley had wanted.

 

“Like a date,” Hartley clarifies softly, and he sounds so unsure, which just doesn’t suit Hartley at all.

 

“Yes, exactly like a date. I want to go on a date. With you. If you want to go on a date with me, that is.”

 

After another half second, Hartley starts to smile, and it’s that same rare, blinding smile that Cisco has come to adore with all of his heart. “Okay,” he finally agrees, and Cisco wants to cheer, but he’s more mature than that, so he doesn’t. “Okay. A date. Tomorrow night. I will… See you then.”

 

He kisses Cisco again, so quickly that Cisco almost misses it (again), and then he’s in the Uber, and driving away. Every other person that’s kissed him and then left, Cisco never saw again, but this time is different, and he knows he’ll see Hartley again. He can’t stop himself from smirking smugly as he walks back into S.T.A.R. Labs.

 

All in all, time wraith aside, it had been a very good night.


End file.
